Polish carriers reach deal with government, agree to suspend border blockade until March 1

Polish carriers, which have been blocking border crossings with Ukraine since November, reached an agreement with the government and will suspend their protest at 11:00 GMT (1:00 PM Kyiv) on Wednesday, Reuters writes with reference to the organizers of the blockade.

"We agreed certain conditions, we will give the government time to work as it is a new government," said Tomasz Borkowski of the Committee to Protect Transporters and Transport Employers.

The Ministry of Infrastructure of Poland organized a press conference at 1:00 p.m. Kyiv time on Tuesday, during which the agreement with the carriers should be signed.

Polish carriers are demanding an end to "visa-free regime" transportation for Ukraine, which cancels the permit system for transportation from Ukraine to the European Union.

Minister of Infrastructure Dariusz Klimczak announced that the agreement with the organizers of the blockade of checkpoints on the Polish-Ukrainian border has been signed. According to the document, the carriers will stop the protest until March 1.

"We've signed an agreement. The outcome of the agreement will be the discontinuation of protests at road border crossings in three towns: Korczowa, Hrebenne, Dorohusk," Klimczak said.

The agreement, which contains seven points, will be valid until March 1. During this time, the Polish government undertakes to solve the problems of carriers.

At the end of November 2023, the Polish authorities announced that the ratio between Polish and Ukrainian entrepreneurs in road transport had deteriorated from 38%-62% in 2021 to 8%-92% by the end of October 2023.

Ukraine's Ministry of Infrastructure denies information from the Polish side that Ukrainian companies have almost pushed Polish businesses out of the transport market between the two countries.

The number of trips of Ukrainian carriers has indeed increased significantly – from 229,000 in 2021 to 307,000 in 2022 and 362,000 in 2023. But over the last year, 68,000 trips were fuel transportation and another 15,000 trips were humanitarian cargo transportation.

Since November, Polish carriers have been blocking three cargo checkpoints, including the largest one in Dorohusk. Their main demand is to reduce the presence of Ukrainian companies on the Polish market.

On January 11, Polish carriers announced the renewal of the blockade in Medyka on the border with Ukraine, from where farmers from the organization "Deceived Village" had gone on January 6. They unblocked the "Medyka-Shehyni" checkpoint after signing an agreement with the government to fulfill their demands.